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Finley and Eirene and Finals
Author: Finley
Date: 08-08-16 18:47
Finley glanced quickly at the time to judge how much longer she had to complete the concoction she was being tested on during her Potions final exam. It was the sort of potion done individually, so she couldn't rely on her usual partner for assistance. Finley felt more pressure than normal to get everything right, not only because she was on her own but because it was her last ever Potions assignment of the school year. What if she performed so badly she actually failed the whole class?
Her marks weren't really that bad, but Potions was definitely not her best course at Hogwarts. Finley was good at following directions but had trouble timing everything just right, and since Potions was a precise art, that proved problematic at times. What if she timed things so horribly wrong that she caused an explosion? That would a memorable way to end the school year, at least.
She felt the minutes and then seconds ticking away and began to sweat over her bubbling cauldron. It wasn't the right color. The potion was supposed to be shining silver but looked more like a slate gray. Somewhere she'd gotten something wrong and now it was too late to rectify her mistake, if it was even fixable.
All too soon, Professor Weasley called time and asked everyone to bottle a sample of their potions and label their flasks with their names. Finley almost burned herself in her haste to bottle of the less-than-perfect potion and then hurriedly scrawled her name on the flask. She carried the flask to the front, deposited it carefully on the professor's desk, and then returned to her cauldron to clean it and the table and put away any remaining supplies.
A little while later, she met Phoebus in the hallway. He was grinning.
"Aced it!" he said.
Finley grimaced. "That's good."
"Hey, we're almost done with exams. There's no reason to frown."
"I'm not frowning. I'm worrying."
"For what?" Phoebus exclaimed. "I know Potions isn't your strong suit, but it's not like you're the worst in the class. In fact, I don't recall a time you ever actually failed an assignment."
"I may not have ever gotten the lowest possible marks, but I've hovered on the pass-fail border more than once." Finley pouted. "What if I failed? What if I did so badly that I have to repeat third year, while you get to go on to the fourth?"
"Rubbish. I think what you need is a nice hot meal in your belly. Then we can chillax in the Commons for a bit, motivate ourselves to study for tomorrow's two, and then we're done. Think on that, Pride. Summer's literally around the corner. Tomorrow afternoon we're free."
Finley allowed Phoebus' inspirational words to cheer her up. She knew she probably hadn't failed, and even if she had, then it definitely wasn't enough to hold her back another year. Anyway, it was done now and she had other things to concentrate on, like tomorrow's Herbology and History of Magic finals.
Eirene, meanwhile, emerged from the greenhouses feeling quite good about herself. She had just taken her Herbology final and felt certain that she had completed it 100% correctly. She'd studied hard because she wanted to be the best. Actually, Eirene was confident that she had the highest marks in her year. If by some unfathomable reason she did not, then she would just have to surpass whichever student did.
Eirene only had one final left, Fitness & Athletics. As it was a written test, she would spend the rest of today preparing for it. First, she needed to refuel herself with a healthy and hearty lunch.
Sleeping In [Bertie, Edwina, Libby]
Author: Georgia Copperpot
Date: 08-08-16 20:09
Bertie Nutcombe tries not to snigger when Edwina dramatically plops down next to him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You have a look."
Bertie tries to wipe whatever the look is to something innocent or blank even. In an effort to redirect her thoughts he comments, "Didn't see you at breakfast."
"I slept in." She blinks and swipes a finger at a gunky eye.
"I did too but not very late. I came and ate then went outside and napped on a blanket but then I got asked to join a Quidditch game."
Edwina frowns up at some hair on her forehead, pushing it back then roots around in her purse for a tie back about the time Libby sits down with them, griping about still having two exams to write.
"We're done," Edwina tells her.
"My Astronomy is tonight and Fitness & Athletics is tomorrow. What's wrong with your hair and face?"
Bertie has to turn his face away, stifling another snicker.
Confused Edwina wants to know, "What do you mean whats wrong with my hair and face?"
"You have what you call them lines - crease - crease lines all over your face like maybe you just woke up and you have bedhead with a big rat's nest. And one of your eyes has goop in the corner."
Edwine swipes at her other eye then rubs a hand over her face seeing if she can feel the crease lines. "I did sleep in a little."
"A little my arse," Libby snorts. "You woke up and came straight to lunch."
"I didn't come straight here. I got dressed and brushed my teeth first."
"But not your hair."
"I guess I forget."
"Didn't look in the mirror when brushing your teeth either," Libby notes in reference to all the crease marks.
Bertie can't contain himself any longer. He asks as he laughs, "Did you really remember to brush your teeth?"
Edwina makes a face at both of them. "Oh do shut up, both of you."
As if to show them she doesn't care she flips the messy ponytail she's just put her hair in over her shoulder and reaches for the nearest serving bowl, putting the vegetable on her plate, putting on a show of being normal only to realize the vegetable is one of her least favorites. Clearing it off her plate back into the dish seems like it would be admitting defeat, though defeat of what she has no idea, so still pretending all is well she calmly requests, "Bertie, pass plate of chicken, please."
Cleft Palate Kitty
Author: Coco Nutt
Date: 08-09-16 22:13
Coco enters the small exam room, stopping short, smile frozen on her lips. She quickly gathers herself, eyes darting to the file as if reading the name there though she already knows it.
"Mrs. Hewson, I'm Healer Nutt. I understand you have a kitten in distress." Coco is already moving to the exam table upon which a tiny form rests in a small blanket of the throw variety.
Mrs. Hewson had looked surprised at Coco's entrances but also quickly hid it and in her own startlement Coco hadn't noticed. "Yes, our female cat had kittens two days ago. The other three are thriving, practically growing before our eyes, but this little guy, or I think he's a he. So tiny it's hard to tell yet. The other three are doing well but this one is increasingly weaker. He suckles but doesn't seem to be taking in much milk. His breathing has also become more labored."
Coco has been gently examining the kitten as Mrs. Hewson speaks. "He is a he and, ah, here. He has a bit of a cleft palate."
Coco does her best to show Mrs. Hewson though with the kitten so small and the cleft also small this is easier said than done but with the other woman's help with holding the kitten in a certain position and Coco lighting the end of her wand she's able to show the cleft. Once that's accomplished she shows the woman the kitten's upper lip. "It's so slight as to almost not be noticeable but there's a cleft here as well."
Coco then explains, "With the cleft palate, small as the opening is, he can't get the suction needed to get much milk. Only some of what he does manage is swallowed. The rest ends up in his nasal passages, where it can get into his lungs and causes infection. I'm going to close the cleft in his palate and get him started on medication for the lung infection."
Coco leaves the exam room to get the potion for the infection, some formula to feed the baby, and some tubing. With her mind concentrating on what needs to be done for the kitten, it doesn't wander with thoughts of Mrs. Hewson and why she's here with the kitten and not in New Zealand where she had once been told the Hewsons live.
Back in the exam room Coco works quickly and efficiently. Once she's done the spell to close the palate, she gets the tube placed, showing Mrs. Hewson how to do it and explaining as she does, "The hole is closed now but we want to give it a few days before exposing the repair to the suction of suckling. As long as the tube is in for feeding I'm using it to administer the potion as well. In a few days when he's eating normally you can give him the potion with a dropper or a syringe. Was his mother fine with him or did she show signs of rejecting him?"
"Canary has seemed fine with him. Very maternal. Cleaning him. Grooming him. Just like with the other three."
"That's good. If she does show signs though after the palate repair is all right for him to suckle, he can be bottle fed. Until he is able to try and eat on his own, he'll need to be tube fed every few hours. If you like, we can keep him here overnight and tomorrow night. If you prefer to take him home, I'll go over again the steps for getting the tube in, and write down for you instructions on how much to feed him as well as the dosage on the antibiotic potion."
Mrs. Hewson thinks this over for a moment then replies, "You keep him tonight and I'll come tomorrow sometime after noon, and take him home. I think I'll feel better if he's under observation for tonight by someone who knows what they're doing."
The kitten, now sated and milk drunk from his first ever filling meal and already feeling better from the effects of the potion, drowsily snuggles down on the throw blanket Mrs. Hewson had brought him in. She leaves the blanket with Coco saying not only does she hate to disturb him now that he's comfortably sleeping but the blanket smells some of his mother and siblings.
The two women say goodbye, leaving Coco to start wondering those thoughts she'd not had time for before. Thankfully she's soon busy with other animals in need of veterinary care. Giving each her full attention means she doesn't have time to give much thought to having met the woman who, technically, would be considered by many to be her stepmother.
Kaycee - At the Lake
Author: Lee Sickleby
Date: 08-10-16 19:23
Kaycee spent the rest of the morning after her Fitness & Athletics final lounging next to the lake. She wasn't the only one taking advantage of the nice, summery weather and the fact that exams were over at long last. Clusters of other students were here and there, some with their pant legs rolled up and their feet in the water. In the center of the lake, the giant squid skimmed the surface.
"Have you ever had calamari?" asked a familiar and quite loud voice.
Kaycee turned her head and saw her two least favorite people, Gerry and Will, standing on the shoreline. Gerry had a smooth stone in his hand and kept rubbing his finger over it.
"What's calamari?" Will asked. "Is it a disease?"
Gerry chuckled. "Mum's library has a book on cooking seafood, and one of the dishes is an appetizer called fried calamari. It's squid."
"Sounds… awful," Will replied, with a laugh.
"I've never actually had it, but Mum said it's very chewy." Gerry prepared to skip the stone and remarked, "I wonder if anybody's ever tried to catch that squid and turn it into calamari."
At that, he let the stone go. It bounced once, twice, three times over the water before sinking below the surface. At the same time, the great eye of the squid turned in Gerry's direction and stared at him ominously.
Kaycee gasped and then stifled a giggle, which was overheard by the boys.
"Careful, Kaycee," Gerry said. "If you laugh too much, you might pee yourself."
Kaycee immediately stopped smiling and climbed to her feet. "I'd be careful if I were you," she said warningly. "That squid looks like he wants to turn you into calamari."
Indeed, the eye of the squid was still fixed on Gerry. Gerry noticed and shuddered.
Kaycee smirked and trotted off for the castle. It was lunchtime, and she was suddenly feeling peckish. She'd probably pass on any seafood, though.
Returning To The Office
Author: Fionna
Date: 08-11-16 11:39
Fionna pushes open the door to Terrortours, allowing Dalton to go inside then following behind. Shifting McKenzie in her arms she tells Dalton, "Go sit and I'll give you some juice."
The three and a half year old goes to his favorite seat near one of the windows looking out on Diagon Alley. One handed Fionna reaches into a bag and comes up with the promised juice. She then brings out a couple of small biscuits and a baggie with some apple slices and grapes. Dalton settles into the chair with his snack and a book he'd gotten a few moments ago at the bookstore.
She puts McKenzie in a walker she keeps there at the office and gives her a hard biscuit for teething children then goes to her desk. As she's sitting Merle at her own desk says, "Wasn't expecting you back."
"Mr. Warren is coming in to finally finalize his trip but I needed to go on and pick up the kids."
"Or so he says," Merle dryly comments. Mr. Warren has been coming in twice a week for months trying to make up his mind on which Terrortours package to book.
Fionna waves some parchment at her. "All we lack is departure date. He wanted to check with the significant other. He said he felt he was forgetting something they're committed to, a wedding or something. Or that's his story anyway."
As if he knows they are speaking of him Mr. Warren bustles through the door. "Mrs. Japes, hello! Are these your children? Adorable! We're going with the early September date," he says in a rush.
A few minutes later a happy Mr. Warren leaves with his copy of the parchmentwork, tickets, and itinerary. Fionna tells the children, "Mummy needs just a few more minutes then we'll go meet Daddy for an early supper."
Merle, the only other Terrortours employee still in the office, says, "I'm going to put on water for a cuppa. Will you be here long enough to have one?"
"If it's not overly long. I've got to file this parchment, and I realized I've not proofed the new tour brochure before it goes to the printer in the morning," Fionna says from across the room as she heads to to the small room where the safe is kept. She needs to put Mr. Warren's trip downpayment in it before she does anything else.
That takes all of half a minute and when she returns to the main office area there's a woman crouched cooing at McKenzie. She'd never heard the door and as Merle is still in the break room doing up the tea she must not have heard it either.
"Hello, welcome to Terrortours. May I help you?"
The woman stands, still smiling from whatever she was cooing at McKenzie. "Mrs. Japes?"
"Yes. Did someone recommend me to you?"
"You're married to Jericho Japes who's with the band Dragon," the other woman states.
"Yes, are you a fan?"
"The biggest."
The next thing Fionna knows she's looking up into the concerned face of Merle who heaves a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin! I thought you were dead!"
Merle helps Fionna sit up who then abruptly bolts unsteadily to her feet. "Where are Dalton and McKenzie? Where are my children?"
Staggering towards the door, reaching for her wand, Fionna makes it out to the lane, frantically looking one direction then the other for her children and the woman, Merle rushing to join her though at that point she has no idea there was a woman. All Merle knows is that she found Fionna on the floor and only after, at roughly the same time as Fionna, did she notice the Japes children were gone.
In The Burrow's Kitchen
Author: Charlie Weasley
Date: 08-11-16 15:43
From where she sits at the Burrow's kitchen table helping Ava shape biscuit dough into balls Hendrika asks, "Molly, what may I do to help with dinner?"
Sitting down opposite Molly says with a shake of her head, "You're doing it. Dinner itself is almost ready. You two are working on afters."
"Ever'body's going to eat my biscuits?" Ava asks.
Hen chuckles. "They're biscuits you're making, love, but they aren't your biscuits."
"That's what I meant," Ava sniffs before poking a bite of dough in her mouth.
"Last bite of that. You'll spoil your supper."
"Aw, Mum. Granny would let me have more."
Molly's the one chuckling now. "No, Granny would not. Here, let's get that pan in to bake."
Ava carefully carries the baking sheet and with Molly's help gets it in the oven. She then decides Granny and Mum can put dough on the next pan because she wants to go out and see what the boys are being so loud and laughing about. Once she's out the door Hen pats her noticeable bulge. "Hard to believe it's been five years since Ava came along. Even harder to believe that when I was to term with her I hardly had a bump.
"Have you given more thought to that heart procedure?"
Popping a tiny bit of dough into her own mouth Hen gives a slight one shouldered shrug. "Some. Doesn't really matter at the moment what I decide. We wouldn't do anything until the baby comes."
"But the baby can be an added strain." Molly's comment isn't her making a point in favor of attempting the procedure sooner rather than later. She's merely stating a fact.
"The risks to the baby if we go ahead now or soon are too high. One of the healers lectured me on the idiocy of getting pregnant and how I should consider an abortion."
Molly makes a sound of surprise. "No!"
"He's not on the team any longer."
"Best you not tell me his name or next time I'm at St. Mungo's I might have an urge to give him a piece of my mind."
"We did consider an abortion, you know. I simply couldn't agree to it. Charlie was relieved though at the same time he... ," Hen trails off, unable to complete the sentence.
Molly pats Hendrika on the shoulder, letting the comment pass. "Hermione's told me more about this procedure. Wizardng healers performing Muggle based techniques. Imagine that."
Hendrika pats her stomach again. "Well, we have to wait a few months before we can fully imagine it."
Checking the biscuits in the oven then sliding in a second pan to begin baking Molly switches gears on the conversation. "Have you started talking names yet?"
The backdoor opens with Ava, Schuyler, and Artie tumbling through laughing uproariously wth Charlie and Arthur close behind. The question goes unanswered for now as they go about getting the children washed up for supper and everyone seated with dinner served.
Packing
Author: Gerry
Date: 08-11-16 19:29
Gerry and Will were in their dormitory and packed their trunks. They were officially finished with classes and exams. All that remained of term was the rest of the evening, all day tomorrow, and the short time before they vacated the premises. Gerry had convinced his parents to let Will visit for a few days, and Will's parents had also been agreeable to the idea. That meant the boys wouldn't be on the Hogwarts Express, but would take the carriage, since they couldn't very well drag their trunks all the way from the castle to Hogsmeade.
They thought to get everything packed tonight––or at least most everything. Neither wanted to spend all day tomorrow figuring out how to cram everything into his trunk. Tomorrow was reserved for relaxing. They deserved it after a long, arduous year of dull classes, excessive homework, and terrible tests.
"Can you believe that little firstie?" Gerry suddenly exclaimed. He slammed the lid of his trunk down and sat on it to make it close all the way. Never mind the fact that he probably still needed to get into it tomorrow and Sunday morning.
"Who? Kaycee?" Will asked. He laughed and said, "You have to admit, it really looked like that squid wanted a piece of you."
"There's no way it could have heard what I said," Gerry said, "and how do you know it even understands human speech?"
"Well, it does seem comfortable around people… usually, anyway," Will replied.
"Just because it's tame doesn't mean it's fluent in English."
"So you think it's a coincidence that squid looked right at you when you were talking about turning it into calamari?"
"Yeah. It was just something that happened while I was talking. There's no way it knew what I was saying."
Will laughed again. "Keep telling yourself that."
Gerry scowled, which caused Will to laugh more. "Oh, I'm sure it really wouldn't eat you… but to be safe, I'd probably stay out of the water."
"Speaking of eating…" Gerry began, eager to move on to another topic. "Let's get supper." He jumped off the lid of his trunk and made for the doorway, with a chuckling Will on his heels.